Bionicle: Descent into Darkness
by Thanatos's Scribe
Summary: Prequel to Toa-of-Spirit's 'Bionicle: Unmei No Yobidashi (Destiny Calling)'. When Michael gets kidnapped to be Teridax's champion, he has to survive in the Onu-Metru Archives while avoiding both Rahkshi & Makuta while keeping his sanity. Will he escape unharmed, or will he descend into madness and darkness?
1. Chapter 1: Arrival and Escape

I studied the paper that Mr. Adam had given to me. _Making a poster about hominid evolution…. great_, I thought, shaking my head. I wished that I was able to speak to Syd, her nerves were so short lately. It didn't help that she had gotten even more jittery after she came back from the hospital, flinching every time someone spoke to her. Traumatized. Sydney won't admit it, but she's traumatized. And had also sent me to question her sanity, Sydney made me promise that if something happened, that I would fight it. I had a feeling that something different happened at the warehouse that she was 'taken' to, than what we were told. A familiar, but not so friendly face came into my line of view.

"Go away, Noah." I said coldly, he shrugged and went over to a desk and sat down in it.

"What's your problem, anyway? I didn't do anything to you." He snapped back, fixing his glasses. I snorted, but didn't say anything to him. "Fine, be like that." Noah muttered darkly, shaking his head and pulling out his own work. I was trying to focus on the poster, only to find my thoughts wandering to the strange incident, the green head (I finally figured it was a head) outside the Biology room window, and….. I looked into my backpack at the gray stone inside of it, glowing softly, but enough so I could only see it. Looking over at Noah, checking to see if he wasn't paying attention to me, and pulled it out. It looked exactly like Whenua's Toa stone, only this one was darker in color and a more ominous appearance. With furrowed eyebrows, I tried to figure out **what** it was, and **how** it got here.

"Hey, where'd you get that?" I flinched and looked at Noah, his dark blue eyes eying the stone.

"Why would you care?" I asked sharply.

"Because it looks like an Earth Toa stone." This caught me off guard. _Since when does Noah know about Bionicles?_

"OK, Genius. Have any idea where it came from?" I said, now worried slightly and annoyed. Noah shrugged.

"Beats me." He said, shaking his head. Then he grinned. "Wonder how much you could make off of that." I looked horrified at him. "If that thing is the real deal, you could make big bucks outta it."  
"As if I wanted to. Geez, it could mean something." I said sharply, glaring at him. I knew that something was up with that kid, I didn't know what, but there was something. It bothered me.

"Well, you should get rid of it, if it means something, it's **bad** news." Noah retorted, eyes narrowing. I stood up and walked up to him, despite the fact I was taller than him by four inches, Noah still held a powerful stance. I looked at him and grabbed his shirt.

"I never really liked you, so I'll keep it simple." I hissed at him. "**You** stay out of my business, and **I** stay out of yours. **Got that**?" I said. Noah didn't say a word, he only returned a mischievous smile as I let go of him. It was the sudden hissing that grabbed both of our attention. Slowly, we both turned and saw Rahkshi. Two of them. I gulped, watching the two of them and identifying them as a Heat Vision Rahkshi and a Power Scream Rahkshi. While they aren't the most powerful, they're still a force to be reckoned with. I looked at Noah, seeing that he was just as confused and worried as I was.

"Go to the left, I'll go to the right." Noah whispered. I nodded. "GO!" At this, we split and rapidly circled around the two. As we neared the door, a blast of heat shot past us and hit the door, causing for it to erupt in flames. Thankfully, it alerted everyone in the school, unfortunately, our only other options for escape where to the room next door, or the windows. _Why me?_ I thought, grabbing my bag and making a mad dash to where Noah hid.

"OK, now **what** do we do!" Noah hissed, glaring at me.

"Oh, so its now my fault?!" I whispered angrily at him, returning the glare. Noah scuffed and rolled his eyes. I watched his expression change to realization.

"I think they're after you."

Now it was my turn to look angry. "What makes you think that?!"

"Well, put two and two together! You think you're the only one who noticed those heads a while ago! And that new kid suddenly disappeared, and nobody looked for him! Not to mention that Sydney has been acting panicky every time we bring up the subject of her being kidnapped! And the fact that you got that stone!" Noah said in a hushed tone, eyeing the door to our left. I didn't answer him, and looked at our options at this point. _If Noah is right, and we both get out, I'm putting everyone else in the school at risk. If I get caught, they might leave everyone else alone…. I hope…._ I looked around, hoping for any other option. But there wasn't any. I looked to Noah, who was trying to figure something out.

"Noah, I don't like you at all, but you need to run!" I hissed to him, hearing a Rahkshi walk closer to where we were hiding. Noah looked oddly at me. "**Go**! Before they get over here!" I nearly hollowered. Noah's eyes widened with what looked like confusion written all over his face. Before I could say anything, something whacked me upside the head, and I fell unconscious.

I awoke to Noah yelling at someone or something. I blinked the grogginess out of my eyes and slowly sat up, groaning.

"Oh, it looks like the 'hero' is awake.." Noah stopped his yelling enough to say that.

"Shut up, shorty. It's not my fault I got knocked out." I retorted, again groaning. I had a major headache, and I couldn't even see where Noah was. Well… maybe….. I could almost see where he was in the shadows, which was strange. "Noah… What happened after I got knocked out?" Noah didn't answer, instead, a light started to come down the hallway. I blinked at the lightstone, and stared in shock at what was in the light. A Makuta, flanked by a Rahkshi of Hunger. He only glanced at our cells, and smirked, and continued on his way. We remained silent until the light was gone, then Noah spoke.

"To be honest with you, your eyes changed color, and the two Rahkshi grabbed us and went into a portal…. after that… well… they brought us here." He stated, nodding to the cells that we were in. "You were out for a while too. "They brought us what I **think** is food." I looked at the bowl that was at the cell door. Sure enough, there was a type of gruel or porridge inside of it, though I wasn't sure if it was edible.

"Geez… I wonder what the hell they want with me..." I muttered to myself, and grabbed the bowl and looking at it.

"Beats me…. Geez, your eyes are freaking me out." Noah replied to my-self asked question, and shivered. I looked up at Noah, but I didn't say anything to him.

It was several hours before a couple of Rahkshi came to get us. We were both asleep in our cells when they opened them. I awoke to one chaining me by the hands. I delivered a sharp kick to the head. The Heat Vision Rahkshi responded with a sharp whack, dazing me. Noah didn't really struggle like I thought he would. _Something's up with him._ I thought hazily as we were led down the winding hallways. Noah grumbled about being woken up, with what hair he had was frazzled. I was sure he had the better end of the stick about that issue. Voices slowly filled the hallway as we got closer. Finally, we came to an open space, and what looked like a throne in the middle. Voices that were now clearer, but I still couldn't make out what they were saying. Though I did hear that some of them had turned their attention to me.

"Is that him?"  
"Has to be, look at him!"

"He sure is small…"  
"HUSH! We have to encourage him if Teridax wants him as his warrior!" This caught my attention. Teridax was the **leader** of the Brotherhood, the one who **caused** the Great Cataclysm. Noah looked around at the gathered Makuta as well, unsure of what was going on. I could also pick out some of the Makuta mentioned in the books. Gorast(I think) was glaring daggers at me, as if I was some type of vermin. Roodaka was also there, but she seemed more interested in how Noah and I looked.

"Bitch Queen." Noah muttered to me, causing me to snort. Roodaka sent a sharp look to Noah, but blinked, as if she was trying to figure out if it was an insult sent at her. That only made Noah's comment even funnier. I stifled a giggle as all the other Makuta suddenly went silent. The two of us soon realized why they had become silent as footsteps tromped from behind until they stopped right behind us.

"Well then, it seems our 'guests' are awake." Teridax said in a scary sweet tone. The Makuta who walked by our cells was behind him.

"They are both quite different than the human's that you've encountered before father." Said the unknown Makuta. Teridax nodded, but kept his eyes on me.

"But the girl had some extreme power inside of her, barely suppressed." He chuckled. "I can say that when she comes, she won't be as powerful as before. Now tell me human-" He leaned forward to the two of us. "-what is your name?" Noah gulped slightly, and I didn't dare speak.

"My name is Noah, and his is-"

"Shut up!" I hissed at him, turning to glare at him. The larger Makuta chuckled.

"You have no choice in this matter. You are already destined to be my warrior." He said as he took out a bladed staff and pointed it at us.

"Okay, and could you give me at least three reasons **why** I should believe you?" I said as I raised my eyebrow in response. Teridax smiled.

"Your Toa stone, it is of Shadow." Was his response.

"And why was I dragged into this?!" Noah demanded, clearly not caring of what might happen. The Makuta behind Teridax gave him a look, and Noah fell silent.

"Then you don't know. Your friend, the Watson girl, is destined to become a Toa herself." I froze, letting his words sink in. "And I won't allow that, for one." He hissed. "There are five others, as well. And I hoped that you would help me kill them."

"As if!" I yelled, wrenching on the chains that held me. The leader of the Brotherhood only smiled.

"There are five others as well, destined to be Toa as well." As he spoke, 6 orbs suddenly appeared, showing me my five friends, and a man I didn't know. Jessica looked like she was swearing at her TV. Amanda was playing Minecraft and setting things on fire*(Dang that girl is like Lewa in some ways…)*. Emilee was listening to music, the man was building something with Legos*. Kasey was cooking something, and Sydney was playing Dead Space 3, yelling random words at the TV, clearly jumped.

"So, you're telling me that either I help you kill my friends, or my friends still die? What kinda stupid deal is that?!" I yelled. Teridax eyes narrowed in anger, then looked at a green and black Makuta who was standing at the back.

"Apparently, our new 'nominee' hasn't accepted his position." He stated as he gestured at me. "Mutran, perhaps you can 'persuade' him with a few 'upgrades'." He told the Makuta, and Mutran grinned.

"Of course, my lord." The bat-like Makuta said, then looked at me with a sadistic grin. I shuddered as I remembered how Mutran was noted to be the most sadistic of the Brotherhood of Makuta. Noah gulped.

"Dude, just accept the deal! It'll be better that way." He whispered to me. I had **enough** of Noah. I whirled around to him, and backhanded him, despite the fact I was still cuffed into the shackles. Noah stumbled, then glared at me. "Do you seriously want to die?!"

"Better to die than to kill my friends!" I yelled back at him, aiming for another swing. The Makuta had started to chatter excitedly, but I didn't care at that point, I just want to beat some sense into the shorter teen. That was till the burning pain hit. I gasped, unsure of what it was that hit me, I attempted to look around, but the pain was paralyzing. It felt as if my bones were changing, growing, and my organs moving positions. I screamed, the pain was exhilaratingly horrible. After what seemed forever, the pain slowly ebbed away, leaving me on the floor quivering. The chatter from the Makuta stopped, in awe of the sudden turn in events. Noah even froze, confused and if not startled.

"W-wha-what are you, some kind of freak Toa or somthing?" Noah gasped, clearly scared. I looked up at him confused.

"I'm not a freak, Noah." I said harshly, slowly sitting up. Pain flashed through my body it wasn't as bad as before, but it was enough for me to grit my teeth. That's when I realized that I could see everything in the shadows, and that my hands were free from the restraints.

"Apparently, the organic's anger caused for him to transform." Mutran mused, and he turned to Teridax. "Perhaps I could test this observation with the… spare." He said, and looked at Noah with an appraising eye. I glared at the Makuta. Even though I seriously hated him, no living being deserved to be experimented on.

"Maybe I should try it on you." I spat, getting to an upright position. That was when I saw what had happened to me. My body was…. different than how I looked before. I was officially towering over Noah. I had armor on my arms and legs. I… I was a Toa. **Kra**-Toa. "Wha? What did you do to me?" I whispered, starting to shake slightly.

"You took the words right out of my mouth, freak." Noah said, I shot daggers at him and made an advance to him.

"Listen here Noah, I…. I don't know what happened just now…. But we need to get out!" I hissed lightly to him. Noah shook his head.

"Maybe you want to. But not me. I like it here." I froze at this sudden sentence. Was he joking with me? Or was he really going this far to show that he hated me? "You think I'm joking with you?" he asked at my befuddled expression. "Well I'm not. I might have told you before, but I'm a bad guy, whether you like it.. Or not." The Mukuta 'ooed' at this, nodded and whispered their approval. Teridax put his hand on my shoulder.

"You should follow his example. And besides…. would you want your friend to suffer the pain of being a Toa, and possible die by…. 'evil' here? Or have her die a human? She's a pretty frail thing." I knocked his hand away.

"Sydney is **not** any of those things." I retorted hotly.

"Then why did she beg for mercy when I took her captive, hmmm? Explain that one to me." Teridax whispered. I blinked, and thought of an answer.

"She was scared, that was probably the only reason why!"

"Then she begged me to leave her family alone, and to kill her instead."

"She didn't want her family hurt!"

"You're just making up excuses to convince yourself she isn't weak!" Teridax hissed. "That's… what you're trying to do. Convince yourself that she isn't weak! Like the rest of your people." He turned to Noah. "You, on the other hand. We could use someone like you." He then turned to the green eyed Makuta behind him and nodded. He then took Noah out of the room, leaving me behind with all the other Makuta. I gulped slightly, unsure of my next move. Teridax nodded, and Mutran grabbed me from behind.

"HEY! LET ME GO!" I yelped, attempting to aim a punch at him, but with no avail.

"Oh, don't squirm around like that. I may accidentally rip off that arm." He said. I froze at that statement, but continued to struggle anyways.

_I'm going to need to figure out something quick, or else I'm Makuta-bones!_ I thought as Mutran began dragging me towards the exit. As we passed through the threshold, I noticed that there was little light within the hallways, thus covering them in shadows.

_Wait a second… since I control the shadows thanks to my new form, perhaps I can provide a few 'obstacles' for Mutran!_ I realized as said Makuta began heading towards a larger gateway. _Now, who to create?_ I thought as I tried to think of a being who would be able to counter Mutran.

"Enjoy your last 2.5 minutes of fresh air before we begin your… 'reconditioning'." Mutran chuckled, and I was jarred out of my thoughts to realize that we were no longer anywhere near where the throne room was. I shot him a look, still trying to think of what I could do to stop him. A thick wall of shadow suddenly appeared before Mutran, forcing him to stop. He blinked, and smirked. "A feeble attempt, but neither the less proving that you are a fast learner." He said, sounding amused at my attempt to stop him. "Sadly, it's not enough." He stated, and attempted to walk through it… only to fail. It was… sort of funny. Only because he continued to try to walk through it. He turned and glared at me.

"This might take a little while." I quipped, smiling shyly. He growled as he realized that he wasn't going to get through easily, then yanked on my arm with great with great effort, causing for me to let out a scream from the pain.

"You better disperse the wall, **Toa**, or else I might get a little… forgetful." He hissed as he twisted my arm, causing for me to let out another scream.

_Mata Nui, trying to stop Mutran is like trying to beat the Shadow… Devil… _I thought as Mutran continued to twist my arm, then grinned as I realized who would I could use as my 'champion'. The thought quickly manifested, and the wall of shadow shrank, and condensed into a smaller, but limber yellow eyed being came to being. Mutran and I stared at it.

"... What the?" Mutran said in confusion as he looked at the being, then started laughing. "Well, this sure got interesting! Nothing better than a fighter…. and they are the ones who are easy to break."

"Well, it's not exactly what I was going for, but…" I muttered to myself, then imagined the being attacking Mutran. Instantly, it charged at the Makuta, who was shocked at it's speed, and began slashing at him with much enthusiasm. Without realizing that he had let go of me, he attacked the being. _It's now or never!_ I thought, and bolted in the opposite direction, away from Mutran, and away from the throne room. The only thing I hoped was that I didn't get lost quickly,but in order to shake off a Makuta, several turns are possibly required. After what seemed to be hours of running, I came to a stop to catch my breath.

"I think I lost them." I said to myself, then realized that I was now in a more cavernous opening, with gems protruding out of the walls and the floor being unkempt and apparently rarely used. The only thing that I could think of that fit this was the Onu-Metru cave systems.

_And it seems I lost myself. _I thought as I stood back up and looked for any other exits. There were two other paths, excluding the one I had just come from, with the first leading straight forward into a hallway that I could barely make out the floor after while the second path led upwards, and I could make out what looked like support beams farther ahead.

"Looks like there's only one safe way to go." I muttered, then got up and began heading towards the passageway leading upwards. _I just hope I made the right choice, _I thought as I headed up the path, and hopefully out of the Makuta's territory.

**Michael: … D**n, I'm glad that I'm no longer with Teridax and the other Makuta.**

**Thanatos's Scribe: I wouldn't be too sure about that. *grins viciously***

**Toa-of-Spirit:... Mike….. You majorly jinxed yourself…**

**Michael: o_o' … Crap! *Runs off into the distance***

**Toa-of-Spirit:... *To Thanatos* Must you do that? It's bad enough that he's been caught by the Makuta. But anyways, this story is going onto Thanatos's Scribe's page because Michael is his character. Anything you'd like to add?**

**Thanatos's Scribe: Actually, yes. *Turns to audience* For those reading this on my page, this is a prequel for Toa-of-Spirit's story, 'Bionicle Unmei No Yobidashi (Call of Destiny)', so those who like this story should head over to her page to find out what happens to Sydney and the others. Besides that, all I've got to say is that I hope you enjoyed the story so far, and please leave a review below telling us what you think of the story, and possibly follow and favorite the story, also.**

**Toa-Of-Spirit: And we leave you here, as Michael begins his descent into darkness. Will he escape, or succumb to the darkness? Stay tuned! And Ciao! ... OH WAIT! You guys are probably wondering what these * are for! I planned on putting them in so that I could say a couple of things about the story XD. Should've put them at the top, but here you go!**

1. One of my friends did that in Minecraft. She set the forest on fire in creative…. Don't do this at home, kids!

2. Lego's are fun… nuff' said….


	2. Chapter 2: Transformation and Corruption

I made my way carefully up the passageway going up. It was different, not to mention strange to be in a different world. This was noticeable even in the way the tunnel was built, with the support beams giving off a metallic sheen even in the low light levels provided by the crystals. _Speaking of which… _I thought as I pulled out one of the crystals protruding from the walls and examined it a little closer. Even though it had only been freshly removed from the earth, it was shaped like a hexagonal prism, like what you'd find on Ebay attached to necklaces, and continually produced a soft aquamarine light.

"What are your secrets?" I whispered to myself as I continued to examine the lightstone when I heard voices approaching from behind. _Damnit, they must've caught up,_ I thought as I looked around for a spot to hide. Just as the voices were almost at the corner, I noticed a crack in the wall that ran nearly parallel with it, thus giving the illusion that it didn't exist. I hid in it just in time as well, because two or three Makuta ran right past, along with a couple of Rahkshi along beside them.

"We need to hurry and find the human, or else Teridax is going to have our heads!" A white mantis-like Makuta said as he stopped and looked around the tunnel. I drew back as his eyes looked at the crack. _Please don't investigate, please don't investigate!_ I thought, pushing myself as far as I could, hoping for dear life that he didn't come over. Thankfully, he returned his attention and followed his fellow Makuta. Giving a breath of relief, I stepped out of hiding once they were out of hearing range. I blinked a couple of times. _I think it might be better if I avoid going that way. _I thought to myself when I realized that there was a small crevice that branched off of the passageway, but it was barely wide enough for me to slip into. Despite it's narrowness, I could make out a eerie light at the end.

"Well, it's better than nothing." I muttered as I slid into the crevice and began inching

towards the light. As I slowly got closer to the light, I began to feel as though a oppressing force was slowly surrounding me. _I need to get out of here! _I thought out of desperation as I sped up my pace. Just as it felt I was about to be enveloped by the force, I burst out of the crevice and landed in a large cavern with a pool of glowing silvery liquid at its center.

"So this is what was creating the light." I said as I took out the lightstone I had put in my pocket. Thats when I noticed that I was once again human, I realised that I'd have a harder time hearing the pursuing Makuta, but an easier time hiding from them. I blinked, still trying to comprehend **how** I changed back to human form. Then I looked at the water. _Wait….. Is… is that what I think that it is?_ I thought, squinting at the pool. The liquid protodermis had an unusual reflectivity to it, and to test it, I took a small rock and tossed it into the pool. When the rock touch the surface of the pool, it glowed for a brief second before it violently exploded, thus showering the blast radius in small pebbles.

"Energized protodermis." I whispered in awe as I realized how strange and powerful the substance in the pool was. I thought that it might be in my best interest to stay well away from it. I looked around and say another way into the cavern. _The Brotherhood must use this for their sick experiments…_ I couldn't help but to think that, wondering what harshly cruel things that they'd done.

"Well, at least they can't get me in here." I said as I looked back at the crevice, then began walking around the edge of the lake, making my way to the other entrance. The size of the cavern was pretty astounding in size. Made me wonder how this was able to fit in the home base of the Makuta. _Then again, the entire underground that 's not built by the Onu-Matoran __is__ technically part of Matuka territory._ I mused as I jumped over a small protodermis creek. This thought made me wonder how exactly the Makuta get in here in the first place. After all, the crevice I came through was too thin for any Makuta to get through.

_Or is there?_ I thought as I stopped and began looking at the walls and trying to find a possible spot they could enter from. If there was, it could prove to be bad news for me. I paused suddenly, spotting something high up in the cavern.

_Please don't be one of the winged Makuta, _I thought to myself as I put my hand over my eyes and squinted as I tried to make out the creature. As if it had sensed me looking at it, the creature let out a loud screech, then gathered energy on it's back and fired a rhotuka right at me.

"Had to be a freakin' Visorak!" I yelped as I ducked under the rhotuka, then turned around to try to run back to the crevice when I saw a Oohnorak flying at me and roughly two feet away from me.

"Ah, kikanalo-shit." I said as the black Visorak slammed into me, sending us both careening into the protodermis lake. The second we touched the volatile liquid, I felt my body be engulfed in pain. I would have screamed, but I didn't want the toxic liquid inside of my systems. Muscles spasmed, I couldn't control any of my body. It felt as if I was being fused with the Rahi. It was hard to breathe, and I was running out of my oxygen supply. A final spasm, forcing me to arch my back, made me realise that I had no more oxygen. I made a mad 'dash' to the surface, I couldn't even tell where I was going up right now. Just as I thought I was going to pass out, I burst out of the surface and began taking greedy breaths of air. My limbs felt like jello, but I forced myself out of the toxic liquid. Something grabbed me by the hood, and pulled me the rest of the way out. But whoever or whatever it was, it continued to drag me away from the energized protodermis. Once I was no longer in the protodermis, it let me go and I flopped onto the ground.

"That took some guts to do that." Said the red bat-like Makuta, glaring down at me. I grinned meekly.

"Worked…. while… it lasted…" I panted as I felt feeling return back into my limbs.

"It doesn't matter. You'll be returned to Lord Teridax shortly." The Makuta said, then began looking around for other Makuta. After a minute or two he chuckled. "Had a nice 'swim' though?" I only spat at him. "No wonder why Mutran lost you, you fight **back**."

"Heh, you'd be surprised." I quipped as I felt my arms finally get enough strength to fight, then swung my hand upwards, causing for a pillar of shadows to fly up and slam into the Makuta's stomach. He grunted as he went sailing backwards, which I used the time to scramble to my feet and make a run for it. I felt that my upper arm was stinging slightly, but I would have to worry about that later.

I ran to the other entrance, and was shocked to discover a lab. A weird feeling that I wasn't alone in the lab surfaced.

"Ah, it appears that Teridax's champion has found my personal lab. You're just in time to see my latest experiment." A voice said, and a black Makuta with two bat wings on his back stepped out from next to a cabinet set. "Isn't that right, Vamprah?" He asked a blue Makuta who looked the most bat-like of the three, nodded in response. I gulped, wishing I'd taken the other way. A howl sounded on the other side of the room.

"It won't shut up, can't you just dissect it now?" Vamprah hissed, glaring in the general direction. Chirox scowled.

"No, we've only could get so many! And who knows what we could do with that fleshy thing! Could make a good guard dog, or something like that." He snapped at him, looking over his shoulder.

"Wait… 'Fleshy thing'?" I asked quietly. Chirox turned back to me and grinned.

"Yes, one of your kind. Who knew that Hordika venom was so efficient on organic beings. Would you like to see it?" He asked me. I tried to take a step back, but I was stopped by a red hand grabbing my arm.

"I'm sure he's interested." The red Makuta said as he pushed me towards the surgical table. Another howl sounded, sounding more distressed this time. I looked at it and nearly gagged at the sight. It _was_ human, but not like any I've seen, even in the movies. The poor man looked like he was overdosed on steroids, his face looked more animal like, claws on a three fingered hands.

"Quite a specimen, isn't it?" Chirox said as he took out a syringe and drew some blood from the man, causing for the him to literally howl as this happened. "The visorak venom, when infused with some Kavinika genes, allowed for us to get this wonderful creature." The last thing I expected the man to do was speak.

"Fuck you, asshole! I have rights you know!" He growled menacingly at the three Makuta, pulling on his restraints. Chirox frowned, while Vamprah snickered.

"That's quite the mouth you've got. Do you want me to cut out your tongue?!" He growled at the Hordika.

"Not before I bite those fucking fingers off!" The man shot back, his eyes turning a nasty shade of green. I gulped, wondering if these psychos wanted to try to see what Hordika venom did to me. The man looked at me. "Hey, kid… You OK?" I nodded mutely in response

_Damnit, I need to get us out of there, or who knows what else Chirox might do. _I thought as I began looking around, the Hordika smiled slightly.

"That's good….."

"Who said you could-" The red Makuta snarled.

"Shut the **fuck up**! I wasn't talkin' to ya! I was talking to the kid!" Snapped the man. I knew that this could be my chance, and I took it. Before the Makuta realized what had happened, I swung my arms out and tendrils of shadows flew out from every corner of the room, causing for one of the restraints to break and for most of Chirox's equipment to be sent flying. The three Makuta stared in shock, but before they could react to the sudden chaos, the Hordika roared and tore the remaining restraints, and attacking them. "**Run,** kid! This could be your only chance!"

"What about you?" I asked as Antroz was the first to regain his senses and drew his swords.

"I'll keep them busy! Then I'll try to find ya! GO!" He hollered, knocking down Vamprah. "Find a place to hide!" Realizing that he won't accept 'no' as an answer, I shouted to him, "See if you can get any of the others out!"

"You can help them! There, in the next room! I didn't enlist to be a Marine to let my people die, dammit!" He shouted, then grabbed a pistol-like item sitting on a nearby table and shot it at Chirox, causing for a bolt of energy to slam into him and launch and send him careening into the far wall. I gave him a thumbs up in confirmation, then headed to the hallway that was diverted off of the lab. It sounded like the Marine was still holding on his own, giving the Makuta hell. I ran into the next room, and 6 sets of eyes landed on me. People of various skin tones and ethnicities stared at me. A dark colored female Hordika looked up at me with dull blue eyes.

"Is that Mich givin' them hell?" She asked quietly.

"If Mich is the marine, then yes." I answered, then grabbed the door and broke the lock on the door.

"Name's Shita. Or you can call me Tech. Mich is my comrade, and boy we didn't call him 'Gorilla' for nothin'." She chuckled, stepping out. The first thing I noticed was the tail.

"Ahh…"

"It's the tail, ain't it?" Shita said, seeing the look on my face. I only nodded as her snake-like tail swished back and forth. "Its not that bad…. still a pain in the ass to sit, though." She chuckled and opened the door to her right. A young teen boy flinched, looking up at her with abnormal blue-green eyes. The others came to their cage doors, and I could see what the Makuta did to them. The teen had spikes jutting out of his elbows, shoulders and knees, and seemed to spot things even in the darkest shadows. Another woman looked like both of her arms were replaced with white, armored ones, and what looked like a set of twins looked fearfully at me, their legs changed to match a Matoran. The final human was what looked like a mutant Toa, only smaller, bright green eyes, and red armor.

"What's your name?" The teenage boy asked with a thick Irish accent.

"Michael. And what's your name?" I asked as I held my hand out. He grinned.

"Name's Nick. The twins there are Alice and her brother Ricky. The Japanese lady is Kazumi. And the guy over there is George or something like that." He pointed to the other people, then squinted his eyes. "How'd you get here, though?"

"... I'd kinda prefer not saying." I said as I looked away. Nick nodded understandingly. Soon, all the humans were out of the cages. Mich came around the corner, looking tired.

"Those ass-holes won't be getting up in a while." He said grinning. Shita wapped him upside the head.

"Language, Gorilla! There's kids here!" She hissed quietly. Mich rubbed his head, grinning meekly still. George looked outside.

"How do we get **out** though?" He muttered.

"I think we should be careful, it sounded like a kid is joining the ugly robots." Alice pipped up. I gritted my teeth as I realized who they were talking about. Ricky nodded his head.

"He sounded like a big fat meanie, too." Ricky said, making a face.

"That ain't a nice thing to say." Nick scolded.

"Noah **is **a 'big fat meanie'." I couldn't help but to state as I lead the six away from the room.

"And how exactly do you know this?!" Shita asked as the six stopped and looked at me in suspicion.

"...Let's just say that he wasn't their first choice as their 'champion'." I muttered as I walked into the lab, which was now strewn with debris. Mich's eyes widened.

"Then what they said.. was true? **You're** with **them**?" He started to growl. I shook my head.

"No, I wanted nothing to do with them. They made a really stupid deal." I muttered.

"And that deal was?" George asked.

"Either I kill my friends, or they kill them anyways." I said, then gripped my hands as I remembered what they said before they made the deal. "And they already targeted one of them, so I wouldn't agree in the first place." I clutched my hands together, feeling anger boil up. Suddenly, Alice and Ricky squeaked, hiding behind George.

"The hell!? How'd you do that?" Nick whispered, shocked.

"Did what?" I asked as I turned around to see what they were talking about when I realized that I had morphed back into my Toa form, but I now had a slightly arachnid look to myself. The stinging pain was back at my shoulder. I turned my head and saw a piece of the full extent of the energized protodermis. There was now a disk-like apparatus attached to my shoulder, and it was raised and pointed straight forwards. I gulped, and relaxed my shoulder, causing it to fold back onto my back. Shita finally spoke.

"Is that….. what I think it's from?" She asked hoarsely.

"If you mean 'originally part of a Visorak that's now fused to my body thanks to some GODDAMN E. PROTODERMIS', then yes." I answered, then began poking the new extension. Mich looked around, then back at me.

"Do you know a way out? Cause I don't want to be back on that shitty robot's table." He muttered, earning himself another whack, only from George this time. Kazumi only nodded, holding the twins close.

"Well, there is this crevice that I came through earlier, but I had a hard time fitting through even in human form, so I don't think that it's no longer an option." I mused as we entered the cavern. Ricky was the first to spot the dangerous liquid, and shouted; "Wanna swim!"

"**Don't**!" I shouted as he started running to the pool, and he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Why?" He asked in an innocent seven year-old tone.

"The pool's filled to the brim with energized protodermis, and it has only two effects. Either it gives you 'upgrades'," I said this while giving the 'bunny fingers' sign, "Or it disintegrates you to a sub-molecular level."

"Whoa, dude….. You some kinda expert on this stuff? or-" Nick paused. "Or are we legit in the Bionicle Universe?" He said, looking around, clearly scared. Shita and Mich looked at each other. George didn't seem unmoved by this.

"Why am I not surprised?" George muttered to himself. Kazumi said something in Japanese, and shivered, holding Alice close. Mich looked around, looking for any other way out of our current predicament.

"Where do you seven think **you're** going?" A voice hissed. We all whirled to see the green eyed Makuta, glaring at us.

"Shit…" Mich said as he pointed the gun at the Makuta. "Wish I had my AK…"

"You and me both, Gorilla." Shita muttered, and turned to me. "Where's this crack? And don't say it won't work, it's the only option we've got!"

"Leave that to me." I looked over at the Asian women, and blinked. One of her arms had changed to a drill. "I'll make the crack bigger, I just need time."

"I can give you some time." I said, and began gathering shadows around me until a sphere of shadows roughly 10 feet in diameter formed around me. Once this had formed, I had two thick arms split off of the sphere, then finally it stood up on two stocky legs and a eye-like window opened on the front*, thus allowing for me to see the Makuta's shocked face.

"Holy….. shit dude… That's freaking awesome!" Nick stated as Kazumi started her part.

"Let's see how you take this!" I shouted at the Makuta. I had the left 'arm' launch itself at the Makuta, then had pieces of the main 'body' break off and fly at him. He quickly teleported away from it, and when he came to view, Mich opened fire on him.

"Try that again mother fucker! I'm gonna put a bullet in that thick head of yours!" He roared in defiance.

"Kazumi!" George started, backing up.

"Almost there." She replied calmly.

"Now would be great right now!" Shita yelped, avoiding one of the Makuta's blasts. Kazumi let out a shout as she finally broke through the wall, then turned to the rest of us.

"Crack's open!" She yelled, then ran through the door with Alice and Ricky right behind her. Shita and George went one after another into the newly made hole.

"You aren't getting away that easily!" The Makuta yelled, then took out a trident and threw it at the fleeing Hordika.

"NO!" Mich roared, and dived in front of the flying projectile, protecting Shita who turned in sync, shooting a final volley of bullets at him, several clipping his mask, forcing him to the ground, howling in pain. I froze, seeing that the trident impaled the Hordika. Mich gave a small, pathetic whimper as the shadows around me dispersed and I ran to him, Shita was already by his side.

"Why Mich? Why did you do this?" Shita started, tearing up. "We were supposed to be brothers and sisters to the end, remember?"* Mich only smiled, then started coughing up blood.

"Tech… You know the oath that we took after we became Marines? That'd we'd protect those in need?" He started, his voice sounding a little more rigid, lanced with a slight gurgle as well.

"We can pull this off, Mich! We can!" Shita whispered hoarsely, looking at him with pleading eyes. Mich shook his head, and looked at me.

"Hey Mikey. Got any family? A girl you fancy back home?" Those two questions made me feel a bit taken back. I had my Mom and Dad, but it took me a second to process the second question.

"Well, actually, yeah." I said as I thought about it. Mich gave a hard look to me and spoke.

"Then you better get home, and you tell her that you like her…. I never did. And if you don't…" He chuckled weakly. "I'll haunt your ass. Got that, Mikey?" I nodded in response, and Mich relaxed slightly. "At…. least….. I know… I did my part….. So tired too…"

"Rest Gorilla. Just rest.." Shita said, now realizing that he was at peace.

"You two… kick their asses…. for me…" Mich said faintly.

"We will…." I said. Then Mich looked up at the cavern, his eyes all hazy, and gave his last breath. Shita made a quiet sound, and closed his eyes.

"Rest in peace, brother…." The snake like hordika murrermerd. I looked over at the Makuta, and realized that he was getting up.

"Shita, you need to go." I told her frantically. Shita looked distraught at me.

"And leave him to kill you?!" She growled.

"No offense, but I think I might have a little more chance at this than you do." I quipped as the Makuta took out a dagger and began running at us. Shita stole a quick glance at me before heading to the crack.

"Stay alive kid, and make sure you find us. And make sure you keep Gorilla's promise." She said softly, before bolting.

"Your fleshy friend is smarter than you are." The Makuta said as he threw his dagger at me.

"That may be, but I can't let you go after them." I replied as I jumped to the left to avoid the dagger, then responded with a flurry of shadow 'knives'. He dodged those, but it made me think for a minute. "It's not them you're after, is it?" I growled, the weight of my situation dawning on me. The green eyed Makuta could only grin.

"You sure do catch on quick." He chuckled, teleporting behind me. I spun around as I felt a presence behind me, but I reacted too late as he kicked me in the side of the thigh, causing for my legs to crumple underneath me. "And that, will be your downfall. We return to my father, Chirox won't be happy that his experiments escaped, and one of them is dead." He grumbled and reached over to me. I smacked his hand away and stood up unsteadily. I felt physically and mentally drained, and stumbled over to the gap in the wall.

_**You think that you can escape from me that easily?**_A voice said. I froze suddenly, and looked around madly. _No…. No, it can't be him! Not now!_ I thought, mind and heart racing.

_**No matter how hard you try to run, you know you'll eventually become like me. **_Teridax hissed, then I felt my head become less stressed. Startled slightly, I looked over at Mich, remembering my promise to him, and the promise that I made to Sydney. _No matter what happens, please. Fight him._

_**You know it's bound to come.**_Teridax started again, but I cut him off.

_If that's true, then I better keep away from anyone else. _I thought as I ducked out of the crevice and ran over to a slope that led both downwards and upwards. Suddenly, a sharp pain assaulted me. Teridax was trying to force me onto their side.

_You. Get out. NOW! _I shouted mentally at him, then imagined a chibi Teridax being pummeled by a battering ram, sending him flying. It worked for a little bit, but he came back like an annoying mosquito. Only this time, he started to go through my memories.

_Hey, those are restricted! _I thought, then imagined the memories being behind a steel wall that was covered with banana oil and surrounded by anti-air artillery.

_**Fool, do you think that will work? **_Teridax said, then I 'felt' the wall be blasted apart and he continued to rummage through my memories. He grabbed the memories of family and old friends, gave a short look at those, before moving on. I was fighting a losing battle. He then started looking at the memories of my new home.

_NO! Stay __out__ of those! _I 'cried' out at him, then started literally launching everything I could think of at him, from Zero** to the Avengers to Unicron, the Planet Consumer himself. Teridax mentally laughed at what he called 'feeble' attempts to shake him off.

_**You're more resilient than I thought you to be.**_ He chuckled mildly, then froze at a particular memory. _**You 'like' that weakling of a 'human'?**_

_Get. Out. __NOW!_I shouted at him, then 'created' two Light Teridaxes**** along with the Ultimate Annihilator*****, and had them fire a concentrated beam of destruction at him. I waited, hoping that he wouldn't come back. After a minute of nothing, I continued further down the winding path. My mind was racing. Out of all the memories he **could** have looked at, it **had to be that one**. I started to grumble to myself lightly, shaking my head. _Damnit…. He's starting to get on my nerves now…. I just need to stay focused._ I thought. As I reached the bottom of the slope, I noticed small footprints all over the ground.

"Wonder what made these…" I muttered as I followed a single set of footprints until I arrived at a small hole. I crouched down and looked at the hole. "Ricky? Alice, you in there?" I called out to the twins, and got no answer. After waiting a few minutes, I decided to head forward and was about to depart when a small mole-like creature popped it's head out of the hole.

"An archive mole?" I muttered as I bent back down to look at the Rahi, causing for it to let out a squeak and duck back in the hole. I blinked and looked around, the smell of blood was slowly filling the air. I gulped, hoping that it wasn't what I thought it was. I continued a little ways, and found only a small pool of blood, no body. I gave a sigh of relief, I was thankful that there was no body. Seeing one was enough. I looked around on the ground, and followed the second set of footprints. The second set led down another passageway, leading to more blood spatters. I wanted to ignore them, but I felt compelled to follow the trail. What I saw horrified me, what remained of George, his throat was slit, and he looked cut up in several places. His eyes were wide in regret and fear. I took a step back, horrified at the poor man. _That's two now…_ The dreaded thought crossed my mind. How long was it till the others got caught, or killed, by the Makuta? Finally sickened by the irony smell of blood, I got up and made my way further down the tunnel. Away from the twisted and wretched place. I knew my sanity was slowly fading as a nagging voice came to my head, whispering.

**Toa-of-Spirit: Just so you all know, and before you say anything about Shita's name, it's pronounced 'She-ta'. It supposed to sound like there's no i in it. So none of you start, ok? Ok for references in this chapter, I'm pretty sure that the first one is from Bioshock(fun game this is), Zero is from Vampire Knight or Code Geass(fail spelling). And for any Gears of War fans out there, you should know "Brothers to the end." Anything you can say about the other references, Thanatos?**

**Thanatos's Scribe: Actually, the sources of the two are from a different source, but I can see where you would come up with that idea. To those wondering, though, here's where each of the references came from:**

***: The Shadow Devil, from Megaman X5 (If anyone's ever fought him either on the actual cartridge or just an emulator, then you know both A. How freakin' hard it is to beat him without restarting the mission at least once, and B. how Michael could easily use it both offensively and defensively.)**

****: Zero, from the Megaman Zero Series**

**s***: The Light Makuta Teridax, from The Melding Bionicle AU (To sum up his history, the Light Teridax was built to be a warrior of light and good, despite having the Kanohi Kraahkan)**

******: The Ultimate Annihilator, from Archie Comic's **_**Sonic the Hedgehog **_**#49-#50 (The original UA was capable of erasing beings out of existence. I've got nothing more to say.)**

**Toa-of-Spirit: lol shows how much I play the classic games XD, but oh well. Please leave a review and/or fav!**


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